Wind bristled harshly against the old rusted cars and thin layers of rock as twilight set upon the Cosmodrome. Amongst the dreary landscape, a lone Ghost floated to and fro between different cars and patches of land, still searching after all this time for his Guardian. He passed by a car with the remains of someone splayed across the front seat, only a skeleton after centuries of exposure to the elements. He scanned it tentatively, holding out hope that this one would be his Guardian. It was not.

“Ouch.” He muttered, his deep, smooth tone posing a contrast to the robotic tinge his voice otherwise held.

Off in the distance, the scope of a Fallen Captain was trained on the Ghost, watching its movements carefully. He motioned to the Dreg and Vandal that flanked him and muttered something in the Fallen tongue before letting out a deep, guttural roar.

The Ghost floated over to the top of a small hill and proceeded to scan once more, finally getting the reading he had been looking for all this time.

“Is it possible?” He questioned aloud, running his scan again just to make sure. Once his suspicions were confirmed, he split apart, the pieces that formed his shell orbiting around a core of Light.

“There you are.” He said as his pieces coalesced back together and he let out a brief pulse.

The newly risen pony slowly rose to her hooves, her vision still mostly fuzzy as she tried to focus. The Ghost saw that she had a light amber coat and an eye-catching mane that combined red and brilliant yellow. She also had a small horn that protruded from her forehead.

What a unique creature. The Ghost thought.

“Guardian… Guardian… Eyes up, Guardian!” The Ghost called. As the pony’s vision cleared, she saw the small drone floating mere inches from her face.

“It worked. You’re alive!” The Ghost exclaimed, causing the pony to shriek and stumble back in terror. “Woah woah, it’s okay. Just breathe, Guardian.”

The deep breaths the pony took in did have a more soothing effect than she expected.

“Better?” The Ghost asked.

“I think so, yeah.” The pony responded.

“That’s good. You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you.” The Ghost said.

“For me? Who are you? What are you?” The pony asked.

“I’m a Ghost. Actually, now I’m your Ghost.” He answered calmly.

Whatever that means. The pony thought. “Okay, then who am I? I can’t seem to remember anything.”

“I don’t know who you used to be. But what I do know is that you’ve been dead a long time.” The Ghost explained.

“Wait, dead?!” The pony exclaimed.

“Yes, which means you’re going to see a lot of things you won’t understand.” The Ghost replied, his tone as calm as ever. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye and floated over to inspect it. “Hmm, some kind of satchel, it looks like.”

The pony walked over to it, originally reaching her hoof out to it before withdrawing it. After focusing for a moment, her horn lit up as the bag levitated over to her. She manipulated the bag open, and inside she saw a small book.

“Looks like a journal of some kind.” The Ghost’s deep, robotic voice breaking the momentary silence. The pony pulled out the book and slung the bag across her side before flipping through the book. It was badly damaged, so much of it was unreadable, but she did see a title written at the top of the first page: The Journal of Sunset Shimmer.

“Sunset Shimmer. I wonder if that’s my name.” The pony wondered aloud.

“That’d be my guess.” The Ghost seconded.

A guttural roar sounded off in the distance, drawing both of their attention.

“What was that?” Sunset asked worriedly.

“That’s right. This is Fallen territory, we aren’t safe here. I need to get you to the City.” The Ghost looked back and forth, as if checking for something, before saying “Hold still.”

“What’re you-“ Before Sunset could finish, the Ghost evaporated in a mist of light.

“Don’t worry, I’m still with you. I promise I’ll explain everything once we’re out of danger, but we need to move, and fast. Let’s get inside the wall.” The Ghost’s called out, his voice now less robotic as he seemed to be disembodied from his shell.

Sunset shook her head, tabling her concerns for now as she galloped toward the gigantic wall that loomed over the landscape. She spotted an open door at the end of the path, centuries of rust and disrepair having identifiably taken its toll. The scenery noticeably darkened as she ascended the small staircase into the wall proper, the soft clop of her hooves against the metal floor echoing quietly. Just as she felt that it was getting too dark to see, her Ghost reappeared and emitted a beam of light ahead to illuminate her path.

“I need to get you back to the City. To do that, we’ll need a ship. Let’s hope there’s one around here that still works.” The Ghost explained. Suddenly, Sunset heard the sound of something scurrying up the partially exposed pipe in the wall, causing her to let out a yelp.

“Quiet! They’re right above us.” The Ghost whispered. Stepping up a few more stairs, Sunset found herself in a cavernous bay with large, metal pipes hanging overhead. She could make out glowing blue orbs in sets of four in the distance, identifying them as eyes when she saw them blink in quick succession.

“I know it’s a risk with the Fallen around, but we won’t be able to make it in the dark. I’ll see what I can do.” The Ghost said, and as he floated away he muttered “Another one of those hardened military systems… and a few centuries of entropy working against me.”

After a moment, the lights flickered on one by one, illuminating the entire bay but also revealing several four-armed insectoid creatures that stood atop the metal pipes that hung from the ceiling. As a cacophony of guttural roars erupted from all around, Sunset saw the Ghost floating towards her at a considerably more rapid pace.

“Move, move! The Fallen are onto us!” The Ghost said frantically. Sunset galloped through the nearby gate that had opened as a result of the surge of power, passing by an old, beat up rifle that leaned against a sizable blue box.

“There’s a rifle. Grab it, quick!” The Ghost pointed out. The rifle was encased in a soft, light blue glow as Sunset’s horn lit up, gripping the rifle tightly as she continued to gallop through the narrow halls. Suddenly, the ceiling above her sparked as the panel plummeted to the ground, a Fallen Dreg following shortly after. As he tried to slice open Sunset’s throat with his electrified dagger, she countered by lighting up her horn once more, squeezing the rifle’s trigger tightly and letting a volley of shots fly. The creature quickly slumped over dead as a burst of mist erupted from his head where the shots had landed, which Sunset barely had time to process as she kept charging forward. Eventually, she came into a more open chamber where several Fallen awaited her, including one in the back that was a bit larger and more intimidating than the rest.

“Use your Light, Guardian!” The Ghost cried out.

As if on instinct, Sunset called forth a gleaming golden blade that shone as brilliant as the sun. She took several swings with it, sending forth several rays of fire that incinerated all the Fallen in her path. The chamber was now entirely silent, with Sunset panting heavily at the exertion of power she just displayed.

“What… what was that?! It felt incredible!” Sunset exclaimed, a small laugh following her words.

“That was the Light, the power that all Guardians wield. There’s no time to get into details right now. We still need to find a ship.” The Ghost answered flatly.

“Right. A ship.” Sunset nodded as she bolted out a nearby door that led into a small tunnel. Ducking underneath a large, broken fan and passing through a more narrow corridor, Sunset finally emerged outside once more, seeing a large rocket towering over the landscape in the distance. Her eyes darted to a crimson flare that shot up into the sky, a ship appearing out of thin air a moment later. Sunset noted its odd design; it was thin at the back and gradually widened out until it became bulky and circular at the front. She saw the underside open up to reveal more Fallen dropping down onto the field.

“A Fallen skiff, this close to the surface?!” The Ghost exclaimed. Several bolts of blue energy whipped past Sunset’s head as she noticed the Fallen taking shots at her. She raised her rifle and returned fire as she galloped quickly across the field, eventually ducking into another hall that eventually let out into an open dock. In the center of the room was a large ship that hung from the ceiling like an old, rusted chandelier. Several Fallen dotted the bay, and one particular Fallen, a larger one with a bulky rifle gripped in his four clawed arms, alerted the others to Sunset’s presence as they took aim.

“There’s a ship! Clear out the Fallen, Guardian!” The Ghost called out.

Sunset once again reached into the core of her being and summoned forth that same flaming sword as before. A barrage of flame and gunfire lit up the room, until eventually everything went quiet again, Sunset panting heavily as she took a moment to catch her breath.

“It’s been here a while. Looks like it hasn’t made a jump in centuries. We’re lucky the Fallen haven’t completely picked it clean.” The Ghost muttered as he floated up and down the rusted hull of the ship, his singular eye projecting a wave that scanned the ship for parts.

“Will it fly?” Sunset asked.

“I can make it work.” The Ghost chirped mechanically as he evaporated into a mist of Light once more.

After a few moments of digging around in the ship’s guts, it finally sputtered to life as the clattering of worn down parts gradually gave way to the smooth hum of the engines.

“Okay, it’s not going to break orbit, but it just might get us to the City. Now, about that transmat…” The Ghost called.

Sunset’s ears perked up at the sound of something crawling around in the walls. As her gaze turned towards the large opening in the walls behind her, she saw the largest Fallen she’d seen yet. He had large horns that jutted out and ran backwards across his head, along with a total of eight eyes whose menacing orange glow gave a small amount of illumination in the exposed pipe he was crawling out of. As he dropped to the floor and stood to his full height, she saw that he stood nearly a foot taller than most of the Captains that surrounded him, as well as being robed in more ornate garments than the others, though it still maintained the same brilliant red color as the rest. As she prepared for another fight, she suddenly felt a slight tingling sensation as her surroundings disappeared and were replaced by the interior of the ship.

“We can come back for them when you’re ready. For now, let’s get you home.” The Ghost said.

Meanwhile, a robotic woman watched them from a nearby rooftop, her blueish-white eyes carefully tracing the ship’s trajectory as it blasted off into the sky.

“This new Guardian seems like one to watch. What do you think?” She said into her comms.

“She just might be the one we’ve been waiting for. Keep an eye on her for now. I’m curious to see what she’ll do next.” An older-sounding male voice responded.

Back with Sunset:

The ship quieted to a low hum as it continued on its current course, giving Sunset a moment to catch her breath. The ship’s interior was quite a sight for her to behold, a menagerie of lights and sounds that still astounded her despite its clearly run-down condition.

“Where did you say we were going?” Sunset asked.

“The Last City. It’s the headquarters of what’s left of humanity, and it’s quite a sight to behold.” The Ghost answered calmly, his deep tone giving off a slight reverberation in the ship’s small cockpit.

“Right.” Sunset sighed. After fidgeting in place for a few moments, she followed it up with “So, since we’ve got the time, how about we come up with a name for you?”

“A name?” Ghost inquired quizzically.

“Well, yeah. Can’t just call you ‘Ghost’ all the time can I?” Sunset countered as she cocked an eyebrow.

“Fair enough. I suppose it’s something I never gave much thought to. It took me a long time to find you, so much so that I was starting to think I’d never find my Guardian.” Ghost explained.

“How about something sun-related? You know, since we’re a pair and all.” Sunset said.

“Well, there’s quite a few pre-Golden Age figures who made great strides in astronomy. There’s Copernicus, Herschel, Hubble, Galileo-“

“Oh, that one!” Sunset abruptly cut him off.

“Which one?” Ghost asked flatly.

“Galileo. I don’t know why, but it just feels right somehow.” Sunset explained.

Ghost pondered the matter for a few moments, the top portion of his shell expanding and contracting as though he was furrowing his brow, before finally responding with “Very well. Galileo it is.”

The ship suddenly began to shake violently as they passed through a thick cloud cover, rain splashing against the hull as lightning crackled all around before they exited out into much calmer skies. Sunset’s eyes were immediately drawn to the gigantic white orb that hung in the sky, its position over the sprawling city below an impressive mockery of the concept of gravity. Aside from the orb, Sunset also spotted a large tower that reached ambitiously towards the heavens, her eyes following the flight paths of the various ships coming and going from the tower. Suddenly, Sunset felt that same tingling sensation from before as her surroundings warped and vanished, this time being replaced by the tower’s outdoor courtyard. Galileo appeared next to her as they both looked out onto the view of the city.

“Welcome to the last safe city on Earth. The only place the Traveler can still protect.” Galileo explained.

“It’s incredible. Must have taken a long time to build.” Sunset said as she continued to watch the city down below in awe.

“Centuries, in fact. But now, we’re counting every day that it stands.” Galileo responded. He floated past her towards the entrance to the tower’s interior, his shell expanding and contracting as though he was presenting it in its entirety.

“And this Tower is where the Guardians live.”

Author's Note

Sunset is on quite the journey now, isn’t she? Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I honestly can’t say when I’ll have the next one ready but I’ll try to update as much as possible. Also for anyone who was curious, Galileo takes a lot more after Peter Dinklage’s portrayal of Ghost rather than Nolan North’s.